Tag Archives: pardons and paroles

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has reversed its decision to grant parole to Jon Buice, one of the men convicted of murdering gay man Paul Broussard in Houston in 1991, according to Broussard’s mother, Nancy Rodriguez. The parole board voted on July 1 to release Buice in October.

Jon Buice

Rodriguez, who lives in Georgia, said she was notified of the reversal this morning through a phone call from the Houston Police Department’s Victims’ Services unit.

Buice has served 20 years of a 45 year sentence. Rodriguez had requested he serve one year for every year of her son’s life; Broussard was 27 when he was killed.

Equality Texas, a statewide LGBT advocacy organization, helped coordinate a letter-writing campaign oppposing parole for Buice. Among those who participated were state Rep. Garnet Coleman and state Sen. John Whitmire, both of Houston. Whitmire said he rarely writes to the parole board either for or against granting release.

Broussard was killed in the Montrose area of Houston in 1991 by a gang that had come into the city from the Woodlands, a wealthy suburb north of Houston, to target gay men. Advocates wanted Buice to remain in prison longer because of the brutality of this particular hate crime: Buice admitted being the one who had stabbed Broussard at least three times. Broussard was also kicked, punched, stomped and hit with nail-studded boards.

Equality Texas, then called the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby, followed the case closely and campaigned for a hate crimes law in Texas to enhance penalties. That law was passed 10 years after Broussard’s death.